justly deserved it And if thou shouldst refuse to grant him thy protection yet has he no reason to repine at it But grant me leave O Lord to make known my grievances unto thee when I tell thee of my great difficulty to attain perfection the impossibility I ly under to depress my evilinclinations Thou dost remit me to the powerfull help of thy grace as if it were even at hand and in my power to make use of upon all occasions whereas I am always imploring it nay and often with weeping eyes do I crave thy mercy yet all my prayers are ineffectual I still being what I was an empty vessel void of all grace cold in my devotion weak frail and as prone to vice as ever I was where is now thy promise O Lord where are thy manyfold often reiterated protestations to give a favourable hearing to all poor Sinners at any time when they make their Addresses to thee Ask thou sayst and it shall be given you Mat. 7. Seek and you shall find Knock and it shall be opened unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened These are thy promises here are thine own invitations however in all submission I presume to say what the holy Job confess'd in the height of his afflictions and what he express'd in the bitterness of his sorrowful and troubled heart Job 30. I cry unto thee says he and thou dost not hear me I stand up and thou regardest me not Jer. Lament 3. I may lament with the Prophet Jeremy and say that thou hast builded against me and hedg'd thy self about with a thick cloud so that when I cry and shout Esai 63. thou hearest not my prayer I may likewise complain with the Prophet Isaiah that the multitude of thy mercies are restrained from me O Lord if what these great and holy men have said be true how can I poor sinfull Soul expect that my prayers will be heard or that thou wilt comply with my earnest and humble request I have more reason to apprehend the severity of thy Justice then to expect the products of thy mercy Esdr 9. for I may well say with Esdras O Lord I am confounded ashamed before thy face for my Sins are multiply'd above my head and my iniquitys have reached up to Heaven SAVIOVR I Am the searcher of all Hearts there can be nothing therein that is not visible to my eyes I have all their thoughts in my prospect and all the actions of men are register'd in my book of accounts I know that thy fears and querelous complaints do proceed from a pious and upright minde and therefore am resolved to give a favourable answer to every particular objection of thine I know thou dost not doubt of the truth of my words but thou would'st fain have the right meaning of them and conceive at full how my words and promises which seem to be contradictory may be justifyed in thee Wherefore take it for a certain truth and an infallible Rule that none who does what lies in him shall perish or ever be abandon'd by God no He is so mercifull a Creator that He will refuse no body the concurrence of his grace for he ardently desires the Salvation of all without any exception of persons as thou mayst easily conclude by that solemn invitation which he gives to all mankinde Come unto me says he all ye that are heavy and I will give you rest as also by that great care which he takes of every particular man even from his Mothers womb Mat. 11. Angelis suis mandavit de te ut custodiant te in omnibus vijs tuis Mat. 4.6 to dispatch one of his heavenly Courtiers with express orders to keep protect and defend him as well from the rage of his insulting enemies as from all other sinister accidents which poor Mortals are incident to This and many more Instances I might produce of the great tenderness that God has for man so that none who is truly a Christian has the least ground to doubt but that he and his only and dearly beloved Son also who has suffer'd so much for men and gave even his very Life to save them from Death everlasting will be ready not only to hear their prayers at all times but also most free to comply with their request But I must give thee to understand that prayer is an act of virtue and therfore it 's call'd Latria so that it is not every petition that can be rightly term'd a prayer for this is an humble demand of decent and necessary things to Salvation As thou art oblig'd to be firmly fix'd in the constant practice of other virtues thou must be the same in prayer thou must never give over but still continue upon the same subject with God And withal if thou dost expect to be heard and to obtain the effects of thy prayer from him thou must add the following councel to my former that is utterly to break off with vice and fall into a virtuous life For what a ridiculous thing it is to think that God will remit thee thy Sins whilst thou art resolv'd not to forsake them but rather to increase them dayly To hope for any mercy at his hands whom thou dost dishonour provoke and offend hourly what dost thou think of it is it not to laugh at the Almighty and to ridicule the Omnipotent If thou hadst dealt so with a terene King or with one of an inferiour degree certainly he would be highly displeas'd with thee and take it as a great affront that thou shouldst crave his pardon for the wrong thou hast done him and which thou art resolv'd not to repent how much more should the God of infinite Justice the Lord of unspeakable Majesty and the Judge of illuminate Wisdom be incens'd against a poor wretched creature that would go so bare-fac'd to affront him By what is said thou mayst understand that the duty of a well-meaning Orator is first to be inwardly griev'd to have ever offended his God secondly to make him condign satisfaction for all his past offences thirdly to purpose firmly not only to avoid Sin but also the occasion which may bring him to it After this worthy preparation he then must make a sorrowful entire and sincere confession of all his Sins to his spiritual Father fulfill exactly what satisfaction he shall enjoyn him If thou dost perform this and live ever after according to these dictates thou shalt undoubtedly obtain from God the effect of thy prayer let it be what thou wilt either the remission of thy sins or a further increase of Grace or any other rational request I must confess that he does sometimes even as a wise and provident Father delay the performance thereof but it is to try the faith and patience of his Orators and to exercise his Elect even the most holy among them that
Abraham sent his Servant to finde out a competent Gen. 17. and virtuous Wife for his dearly beloved Son Isaac I had a special care to direct him the safest and best way and also to bring his business to a most prosperous conclusion and all was for the great love kindeness I had for his Master Gen. 39 I would do as much to a bad Master for the sake of a good Servant and have already done it to Potiphar the Egiptian for the sake of my Patriarch Joseph for I have multiply'd all his substance as well in his house as in the Fields not upon his own account being an unbelieving Heathen but meerly for the love I had for his chast and godly Servant What mercy what care what Providence can be greater then this and is he not a mad man indeed that will refuse to serve so good so liberal and so bountiful a Lord as I am to all those that serve me and who am so careful of themselves Capillus de capite vestro non peribit Luc. 21.28 and of all that concerns them that I can't suffer so much as one hair of their head to be lost The effects of my Providence are so many and so wonderful that I am commonly call'd in Scripture the Father of the Righteous Psal 103. and I likewise call them my dearly beloved Children my Providence promoted the Prophet royal and was favourable to him upon all occasions neither was he ungrateful or unmindeful of my benefits for He gives me this Atonement of his gratefull acknowledgement Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgives all thine iniquities who heals all thy diseases who redeems thy life from destruction who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfies thy mouth with good things by him thy youth is renew'd like the Eagles The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppress'd He made known his ways to Moises and all his actions unto the Children of Israel The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and prone to mercy He will not always chide us neither will he keep his anger for ever He has not dealt with us as our sins have deserv'd nor has he rewarded us according to our iniquitys For as the Heaven is High above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him As far as the East is from the West so far has he remov'd our transgressions from us even as a Father doth pitty his Children So the Lord pittys them that fear him for he knows our frame and he remembers that we are nothing but dust Esa 63.16 The Prophet Esaiah thinking the name of Father did not sufficiently express the tenderness of my love because it has been never yet paralel'd by any mortal Parents says Lord thou art our Father indeed Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer and thy name is from everlasting and tho' they be our Father according to the flesh yet they don't deserve the name thereof 't is a qualification due to thee alone for their love for us is no more then a shaddow to that which thou hast express'd to us upon all occasions my love rather resembles that which a good natur'd Mother bears to her child and therefore I compare my self to the most passionate of the Sex Can a Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me Esa 49.15 Can any Mother speak with a more tender expression of love who will be so blinde so stupid and so far from good nature as not to rejoyce at the very sound of these superamourous words which are able to revive the deadest heart that ever was to all motions of love or devotion what man tho' never so great a drone hearing me give him this extraordinary assurance of my most ardent love and paternal Providence will not run with the spouse in the Canticles after the sweet scent of my perfumes I am a God that speaks to thee and the eternal verity too which was never guilty of the least falshood whose riches have no limits and whose power is of the same nature with the rest of my attributes which are all infinite I am therefore him only thou shouldst fear to offend and in whom thou shouldst place all thy hopes and confidence my words should comfort and rejoyce thy heart the title of honour I confer upon thee should unman thee so far as to take on the heart and spirit of a child of God and the assur'd demonstrations I give thee of my great Love and Providence should breed in thee an everlasting abhorrence of the World and all it's allurements What more shall I say Deut. 32.11 Deut. 1.31 or to what shall I compare the love which I bear unto thee the Eagle of all Mothers is the most tender of her little ones and it 's therefore the Prophet says of me as an Eagle stirs up her nest flutters over her young spreads abroad her wings takes them and bears them on her wings so the Lord has dealt with thee nay thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bears thee as a man does bear his young child in his arms in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place What could I do that I have not done to my People to wean their affections from the World and settle them totally upon so good and so Cordial a Father as I am to them I call them my beloved Children and so they are indeed for thou shalt find as many authentick testimonies as there have been Prophets in the World from the beginning that they are my Children in effect as well by their Creation as by their preservation from all dangers The Prophet Jeremy will tell thee that I have lov'd them with an everlasting love Jerem. 31. and that with loving kindness I have drawn them out of nothing to what they are at present and have preserv'd them as well from their temporal as from their Spiritual Enemies whilst they remain'd submissive to my Laws and gave me the reverence which is expected from dutiful Children to their Parents O ye Nations says the same Prophet hear the word of the Lord declare it in the Isles afar off say the Lord that has Scatter'd the People of Israel for their Sins will gather them again if they will cry to him for mercy and if they continue obedient to his commands he will keep them as a Shepherd does his flock For the Lord has redeem'd Jacob and has ransom'd him from the hand of him that was stronger then He. The same
grateful and meritorious to him as being the worthy products of my lively loving and gracious Children and because that all their virtue and power of doing well proceeds from me alone This certainly is a great incouragement to all justifi'd Souls to crave what favours they stand in need of and to ask of my heavenly Father with a great deal of confidence and hopes to obtain their requests being it is not only for themselves they ask it but also for me who am highly honour'd in them with them for no man will deny but what the members do the head does the same what is confer'd upon the one is also confer'd upon the other consequently being that I am the head of the justifi'd what they ask for themselves they ask the same for me My Apostle says Quam diu fecistis uni ex his fratribus meis miaimis mihi fecisti Matth. 25.40 that whoever offends and wrongs my members wrongs me likewise whoever persecutes them persecutes me also whoever honours them or gives them any relief in their distress I own the favour as done to my Self what a main comfort this is to a Just man when he considers that what boon he begs from the Father of Heaven for himself he begs the same for me who am his dearly beloved Son sure this is a principal ground for thee to hope that thou wilt not be refus'd what favour thou dost request of him For when a kindeness is exhibited to one for the love of another the favour is chiefly done to him for whose sake it was granted and indeed thou oughtest to believe that when thou shewest mercy to the poor for Gods sake thou art not only merciful to them but even to God himself MAN BLessed be thy holy name for ever my dear Jesus Capio dissoivi esse cum Christo Philip. 1.23 for thou hast replenish'd my heart with unspeakable joy and my Soul does thirst so much after thee the Fountain of life that she often desires with St. Paul to be deliver'd from the Prison of her frail ungrateful and rebellious flesh to stand in thy glorious presence for ever This I know is the reward of all justifi'd Souls For as thou makest use of thy Justice against Sinners who depart this life without Pennance and dost cast them headlong into the extremity of Hell-fire so thy mercy receives all true penitent Souls into life everlasting And tho' thou canst forgive them their Sins Non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabituâ— in nobis Rom 8.18 quod Momentaneum est in praesenti ct leve tribulationis nostrae supra modum in sublimitate aeternum gloriae pondus operat 2 Cor. 4.17 and receive them into thy favour without communicating thy Glory yet thou wouldst not deprive them of so great an advantage for those that thy mercy does absolve of their Sins thou dost Justify and those whom thou dost justify thou makest them thy Children and those whom thou dost take for thy Children thou makest them thy Heirs and joint-heirs with thy self in thy Kingdom of Glory This is the grand foundation of that lively hope which does rejoyce and comfort the just in all their tribulation for when they see themselves oppress'd with any disasters loaden with afflictions depress'd with infirmities reflected upon by their Neighbours Persecuted by their Enemies they consider seriously and believe that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compar'd with the glory which shall be reveal'd in them They firmly believe also that their light affliction which is but for a moment will work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory All these favours and graces they receive from thee by the means of their Justification wherefore I must of necessity conclude with St. Augustin that benefit is of a far greater estimate then is that of our Creation the reason for it is that thou hast Created both Heaven Earth with one sole word whereas to Sanctify man thou hast suffer'd all the torments that the malice of men and the fury of Hell could invent thou hast spilt thy precious bloud gavest even thy sweet life to purchase his Salvation If we poor Mortals be so much oblig'd to thee for our Creation how much more are we thy Debtors for the benefit of our Justification for the obligation must be the greater by how much the purchase is dearer I must confess O Lord Nemo scit utrum amore an odio dignus sit Eccle 9.1 that a man does not know for certain whether he be Justifi'd or not being he cann't tell whether he be worthy of thy love or hatred however he may have very probable marks of his Justification whereof one and not the meanest is the reformation of ones life If he who was accuftom'd heretofore to commit several Sins in a day now commits none that man whoever he be is oblig'd to thee O Lord in a high measure in as much as thou hast deliver'd him from so many and such great evils and also hast gratifi'd him with all the eminent favours that We even now discours'd of But if any should be so great an enemy to his own Salvation as to continue his sinful and wicked life notwithstanding these most pressing motives which should oblige the most obedurat of men to love serve and obey thee Terribilium omnium terribilissimum mors Aristot O Lord I beg that thou wilt begin a discourse of Death which is the most terrible of all terrible motives in hopes it may retrive such poor wilful obstinate sinners and force them to comply with thy grace which is never wanting to any that purpose to amend SAVIOVR REmember O man that thou art a Christian and don 't forget that thou art a mortal man and consequently that thou must surely dy for thy fate is already decreed and the decree is unavoidable The Sons of mortall Parents must expect a mortal Posterity Death is the end of great and small Thou art born helpless and expos'd to the injuries of all Creatures and of all weathers The very necessaries of life may procure thy death for thou mayst meet with thy fate in thy dish in thy cup and in the very Ayr that refresheth thee nay thy very Birth is inauspicious for thou cam'st into the world weeping and in the middle of thy designs while thou art meditating great matters and stretching thy thoughts to after Ages Death will cut thee off and perhaps thy longest date is only the Revolution of a few days Death is common to all Men 't is a tribute Mors omnibus communis est Senec. Testamentum hujus mundi morte morietur Eccle. 14.12 that all mankinde must pay to Nature tho' not after the same manner for one may dye at his table another in his sleep a third in the heat of his unlawful pleasures a fourth with a glass
didst send him word by thy Prophet that he should dy for it and that He and all his People should suffer the punishment which was to fall upon the Syrians and their King O my Sweet Saviour if thy judgement even in this life be so far distant from that of men what shall it be in that dreadful hour which thou hast reserv'd for the executing of thy divine Justice SAVIOVR MY Judgment is indeed far remote Vas electionis est iste mihi ut porter nomen meum coram Regibus Gentibus Act. 9.15 not only from that of the common sort of men but also from that of the holiest among them Paul was a Saint upon Earth he was a vessel of Election and made privy to the Secrets of Heaven yet he was deceiv'd in his judgment of Timothy for he thought him to be a Saint and worthy of the character and station of a Bishop yet I found him otherwise Apoc. 3. and threatn'd to deprive him of his Church of Ephesus for falling from his former zeal and would certainly take away his Chair but that he repented and did Pennance My dearly beloved Disciple had a great veneration for all the Seven Bishops of Asia the whole Country look'd upon them all as holy men and great lovers of virtue yet in my sight the Bishop of Sardis was so far from being a Saint that his Soul was tainted with mortal Sin the Bishop of Laodicia was a miser poor blinde and naked of all virtue the Bishop of Thiatira was indeed a faithful servant to me as to his own person but in performing his duty to those under his charge I found him guilty in several sins of omission The Bishop of Philadelphia was not indeed fallen from his first zeal Utinam frigidus esses aut calidus sed quia tepidus es incipiam te evomere ex ore meo Apo. 3.16 yet I found wherewith to reprehend him not for committing of evil nor for the omitting of good nor for being remiss in his former fervour but only for his little virtue and charity with another I found fault and told him I would thou wert either hot or cold but because thou art luke-warm I shall begin to vomit thee out of my mouth By this thou mayst see how far different my judgment is from that of men in this life As for the severity of my Judgement even in this life wherein for the most part I make use of my mercy t is very terrible as thou mayst well perceive by what I said to the People of Israel by the mouth of my Prophet nay 't is able to drive thee and even the most obstinate of Sinners out of the ways of iniquity into the path of mortification and Pennance which alone can lead them to Salvation Mark well my words and lodge them within the closet of thy heart as a divine treasure their efficacy is such that if often minded they will exempt thee from the following calamities I will powr out all my Rage upon thee and will accomplish my fury in thee I will Judge thee according to thy ways and will lay forth all thy wickedness against thee my eyes shall not pardon thee neither will I have mercy on thee I will charge thee with all thy misdeeds and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord that smites Nay my wrath shall be upon all the People the Sword without and Pestilence within and Famine too they who fly to save themselves shall all remain in the mountains as the Doves of the valleys trembling in their iniquities their hands shall be disjoynted and their knees shall dissolve into water for the great fear and amazement which I shall send upon them in my wrath Consider seriously now and conclude if my Judgement be so severe and so rigorous even in this life which is the only time for mercy what will it be when mercy is clear out of date and when Justice will admit of no mixture of pitty of tenderness or of compassion when the books of all mens consciences shall be laid open to the view of the whole world when the most secret Sins of their hearts those sordid acts committed in the dark those Sins which through shame were conceal'd in confession or made less considerable with false and Sacrilegious excuses when all crooked and sinister intentions hidden and unknown Treacheries counterfiet and dissembling virtues feigned friends adulterous Wives unfaithful Husbands deceitful Servants false witnesses and all such trash shall be discover'd to their great shame and confusion when In fine Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum qui paratus est Diâ—boio Angelis ejus Mat. 25. Job 26.11.12 they shall behold me feated on a dreadful Throne with a countenance full of indignation and wrath and hear from my mouth these dreadful words depart from me ye cursed into eternal fire prepar'd for Satan and his Angels This dreadful sentence shall overthrow them for ever and cover them with eternal sorrow and confusion The Pillars of Heaven says Job do tremble and are astonish'd at his reproofs If we be not able to hear so few words from his mouth without amazement in puncto ad inferna descendent Job 21. how shall we withstand the thunder of his omnipotent power This voice shall be horrible and of so great a power that the earth in the twinkling of an eye shall open and swallow them down into the bottomless pit of Hell O Man if Ananias and Saphira were struck dead only with hearing the angry voice of my Disciple what a terror will my dreadful and angry voice strike into the hearts of the reprobate Act. 5.1.2.3.4 c. S. Catharine of Sienna was reprehended by St. Paul for not imploying her time to more advantage for her Soul this was at most but a charitable advice givenprivately too yet she said she had rather be disgraced before the whole world then once more to suffer what she did by that reprehension but what is this in reference to the horrour and confusion which my dreadful words will bring upon the wicked in the day of my vengeance If when I suffer'd my self to be taken and led to be judged with these two words I am I overthrew the astonish'd multitude of Souldiers and Rabble to the ground what will my words be when I come to Judge what a terrible fall and irrecoverable overthrow will these dreadful words give to all the wicked depart from me ye cursed into eternal fire prepared for Satan and his Angels Psal 54. for at that very instant the fire of that general burning shall invest those misorable Creatures the Earth shall open and Hell shall enlarge his throat to swallow them to all eternity Psal 139. Then they shall see the accomplishment of my malediction let death come upon them and let them sink alive into hell Coals of fire shall fall upon them
Earth how necessitous how poor how miserable soever which the damn'd would not most willingly endure nay they would think themselves most happy were they permitted so favourable an Exchange This very Consideration wrought so much upon several of my Saints that there was no course of life so austere but they would undergo My beloved Disciple after he had discours'd of the smoke which ascended from the torments of the damn'd world without end Hic patientia sanctorum est qui custodiunt mandata Dei Apoc. 14.12 and how they had no rest night or day immediately adds here is the patience of the Saints meaning that seeing all the troubles of this life were only temporal and the torments of the other eternal nothing that they endur'd seem'd too much for them See what a penitent posture Manasses had put himself in after his conversion behold how he groans under the burden of his Sins and how he laments his iniquities with such a sorrow that he acknowledg'd himself unworthy even to lift up his eyes towards Heaven so great he confess'd were his offences that he was rather deserving of Hell then any favour at my hands hear his words and thou shalt believe them to be the products of a truly penitent Soul 'T is true says he O Lord I have infinitely offended thee and my Sins are more in number then the Sand of the Sea I am unworthy to lift up my eyes towards Heaven to demand thy mercy I have Sinned O my God I have Sinned I acknowledge all the evil I have done pardon O Lord pardon I beg of thee and earnestly beseech thee do not destroy me with my iniquities do not reserve me to the utmost rigour of the Justice do not condemn me for ever unto the fire of Hell Remember that thou art my God the God of Penitents and thy immense bounty will best appear in me whilst it makes thee to save a miserable Sinner unworthy of thy Grace and gives me occasion to praise thee eternally for thy infinite goodness Behold how the Israelites in their Babilonical Captivity after the taking of Jerusalem cover'd with hair-cloth all their heads and bodys laid over with ashes prostrate on the ground cry out to me from the bottom of their hearts we have Sinned against thee O Lord in not obeying thy word To thee O Lord belongs Justice and uprightness but to us nothing but shame and confusion which our iniquities have deserv'd We have Sinn'd we have done evil we have dealt unjustly O Lord our God in all thy commandments Turn from us thy anger hear O Lord our prayers and our petitions open thy eyes and consider that the dead praise thee not but the Soul which is sensible and afflicted with the greatness of the evils done and performs due pennance for them Psal 6. How full of inward grief and trouble was David for the Sins he had committed O Lord says he rebuke me not in thine anger chastise me not in thy hot displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vex'd But thou O Lord how long Return O Lord deliver my Soul Save me for thy mercies sake For in Death there 's no remembrance of thee In the grave who shall give thee thanks I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swim I water my Couch with my tears mine eyes are consum'd with grief Psal 51. Have mercy upon me O Lord according to thy loving kindness according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Wash me throughly from my iniquity and clense me from my sin for I acknowledge my transgressions and my Sin is ever before me Against thee only have I Sinned and done this evil in thy sight wherefore contemn not the Sacrifice which I offer unto thee of an afflicted mind and of an humble and contrite heart Behold O man what these great Saints have done to make mean atonement for their Sins and to avoid the everlasting torments of Hell See how they labour'd to mortify their Passions to depress their evil affections and to destroy all their sinister inclinations proceeding from the infection of their sensual concupiscences they knew this to be the only means to weaken the forces of their enemies and that nothing was more effectual to dismount their batteries against them then to chastise their bodies and keep them in subjection by a long and earnest practise of corporal afflictions In Jejunijs multis in multis vigilijs in fame siti frigore nuditate c. 2 Coâ— 11.27 this is the powerful remedy that all my Saints made use of and even my Apostles came to Heaven by the same means for they spent their whole lives in much fasting much watching hunger thirst cold and nakedness My beloved Apostle and Brother St. James tho' he was a man of extraordinary great Sanctity and was therefore Sir-nam'd the Just yet besides other austerities of apparel diet and all other mortifications his exercise of praying on his bare knees was so continual that the skin of them was as hard as the brawn of a Camels knee Philo the learned Jew and famous Philosopher giving an account of the first Christians in Alexandria under St. Mark the Evangelist sent thither from Rome by St. Peter to give a beginning to that Church which he perform'd says he with such exemplary Piety Sanctity of life Simplicity abstinence and mortification that he and his followers mov'd their Adversaries to extreme admiration But to what did all this rigour tend or what might be the end of all these extraordinary mortifications practis'd so exactly and for so many Ages as well by Monks Anachorites and Hermits as by the Founders of Holy Orders and by their Disciples to this very present Age and will continue with my assistance to the worlds end St. St. Aug. L. 1. Confess 5. Augustin will tell thee in these few words the prime motive thereof Moriar ne moriar that is to say I will dy to the end that I may not dy for ever I will mortify my body in this Life lest I should be of the unhappy number of the damn'd for ever St. Hierom is much upon the same point for being in the Desert of Syria he was set upon by the Devil who plagu'd him as he did St. Paul with suggestions of the Flesh but what weapons did he make use of to obtain the victory over so dangerous an enemy the fear of God and of the fire of Hell was an Armour of proof to him against all the temptations snares of so powerful an adversary Hear the relation he makes himself of his several conflicts and brave defence How often says he being in the Wilderness was I burnt up and scorch'd with the extream heat of the Sun how oft likewise was I tempted with the Roman delights tho' I was so far distant from those objects and so low
necessary things and that he is firmly resolv'd to break off with Vice C. P. 52. How a Sinner by his frequent relapse into Sin may reasonably fear he never was really contrite for his Sins C. p. 56. That a Sinner must fix his hope in God of whose mercy he can't despair without a mortal offence C. p. 57. The nature and necessary conditions of a true and perfect contrition p. 60. The fatal consequences of Venial Sins and how by degrees they bring a Man to commit Mortals C p. 65. The greatness of Gods Love for Man is a most pressing motive to a sorrowful contrition M. p 67. The means which God was pleas'd to take in order to redeem Mankind is another pressing motive to a sorrowful contrition M. p. 71. What Christ has suffer'd from his Cradle to the Cross was only for the love of Man M. p. 74. His Death and Passion should breed in our hearts a mortal hatred and abhorrence of Sin M. p. 78. Several other Considerations upon the same subject able to move even a Heart of Steel to love God above all Creatures M. p. 82. The benefits of our Justification lays a weighty obligation on us to love God with all our hearts p. 88. Several other deep considerations of the same benefit Mp. 91. The manifold disasters and miseries occasion'd by Sin and how we are happily deliver'd from 'em all by the benefit of our Justification M. p. 95. The manifold and wonderful advantages of a Justifi'd Soul M. p. 99. The benefit of our Justification exceeds that of our Creation and Redemption M. p. 103. The certainty of Death and th'uncertainty of the hour of Death with the several and dreadful circumstances thereof is a most pressing motive to detest Sin M. p. 106. The particular Judgment which is given of the Soul at her departing the Body M. p. 114. How dreadful will the sight of her Judge be to her and what anguishes she shall suffer at her Trial M. p. 120. Of the most strict account which will be taken of the Soul in this particular Judgment M. p. 126. How remote is the Judgment of God from that of Man and of the severity of his Chastisements even in this Life by which we may easily conceive th'unspeakable rigour of his punishments in th' other M. p. 133. Of the Torments which the Damn'd suffer in Hell M. p. 140. Of the Glory of Heaven in what it consists of its great estimate and what we ought to suffer for the everlasting purchase thereof M. p. 148. Of th'everlasting happiness of the Saints in Heaven and of their glorious Prerogatives M. p. 162. The little value that Christians set upon Vertue and how their dissolutions surpass the debauchery even of the worst of Heathens M. p. 173. The Godly feelings and Heroick exploits of Heathen Philosophers will certainly confound the Christians in the Day of Judgment M. p. 188. Of Hell and of th'unspeakable and various Torments which the Damn'd shall suffer there for an Eternity M. p. 201 Of the severity of Gods Justice the rage and malice of the Devils and the horrid confusion of the Damn'd occasion'd by the full Knowledge of their Vanities main Folly and wilful neglect of their Salvation M. p. 217. The wonderful Austerities of Gods Servants as well in the Old as in the New Testament in order to avoid the Torments of Hell will be a main confusion to such Christians as live deliciously in this World M. p. 226. If men be so outragiously cruel one to th' other how excessive cruel must the Devil be to the Damn'd in Hell being a professed enemy to all mankind even from the Creation M. p. 234. An habitual Sinner that puts off his Conversion to the hour of Death in expectation of a good Peccavi lies under a moral impossibility to be sav'd M. p. 248. The Love of God should replenish our hearts to that degree to leave no place for any terrene or carnal affection M. p. 266. An ample description of th'ingratitude inconstancy treachery cruelty and vanity of the World with several presidents relating thereunto M. p. 278. The Lust of the Flesh with its fatal attendance and branches are most abominable in themselves most odious to God and the most destructive enemies of our Souls M. p. 293. Th' only thing that the Nobility should value themselves upon is Vertue how vain is the Wisdom of the World Of Corporal Beauty and Rich Apparel and how th' one as well as th' other has been the ruine of many Millions of Souls M. p. 310. That the State of Poverty is far more advantageous to the Soul than that of Riches though it may not be so pleasant to the mind which is never content M. p. 327. The Charming expressions of Christ and the several employments he takes upon himself in order to save our Souls are able to withdraw all our scatter'd affections from the World and settle them upon him alone M. p. 346. That the World is both a Cheat and a Lyar for his Promises ars false his Honours are vain his Pleasures are Poyson and his Treasures are Soul-Killing Thorns M. p. 368. That they who after all Gods sweet Inspirations loving Invitations and gracious Admonitions do not love him reciprocally shall be in danger of eternal Destruction M. p. 384. A Check to Man p. 391. A Check to the Christian Man p. 395. A Check to the Religious Man p. 402. A Wholesom Advice to Mankind in general p 410. Errata P. 10. L. ult R. remit P. 26. M N. R. hac P. 249. L. 4. R. double P. 254. M. N. R. transiit messis P. 255. M. N. R. quo P. 259. L. 12. R. axiom P. 265. L. 27. R. Prophet P. 271. L. 13. R. no more P. 315. M. N. R. putredini p. 329. L. 26. R. not P. 336. L. 8. R. the. P. 344. L. 27. R. be P. 352. L. 18. R. so P. 368. L. 22. R. doorkeeper P. 371. L. 6. R. martial P. 374. L. 17. R. Micheas P. 376. L. 21. R. were P. 384. L. 6. R. as A Dialogical Discourse betwixt the Saviour and Man wherein all Souls desirous of the Love of God are copiously suppli'd with means powerfull to attain it and to gain the happy accomplishment of their Salvation MAN SPeak O Lord for thy Servant hears thee 1. Reg. 3. grant me a right Understanding to know thy ways and lead my will to walk therein let the sacred Dew of thy divine Inspirations flow down from thy heavenly Throne into my obdurate Heart Psal 118. that I may more easily observe thy Commands and steer my course directly without any Remora towards the Region of everlasting Bliss Loquere tâ— nobis audiemus non loquatur nobis Dominus ne â—orte moriamur Exod. 20. for which thou didst Create my Soul Heretofore the Children of Israel would have Moises only speak to them not thou O Lord fearing thy words might strike such a terrour to their Hearts
this to get the good will of his Master but alas to purchase a summum bonum to be seated among the Saints and Angells in Heaven to enjoy th'intuitive vision of God and his interminable glory he is so much a friend to his body and so fond of his ease that he will not undergo the least mortification O slothful and peevish Creature thou should'st be asham'd to see Worldlings more ready to concur to their utter ruine then thou to procure to thy self a Crown of Glory that they take more pleasure in their vanitys then thou dost to hear and practise my Commandments and Counsels Rom. 1. Matt. 14. Apoc. 2. They often fail of their expectation and seldome enjoy perfectly what they propose to themselves but what I promise is always fulfill'd and none was ever disappointed that plac'd his confidence in me and whoever has my word for a favour shall be sure to obtain it if that he continues a faithful Servant to me even to the very last respiration of his breath for 't is the end not the beginning and progress that crowns the work Finis coronat opus Matth. 5. 25. and makes the man be either a Saint or a Devil I do faithfully reward all and the least of my servants good works I am likewise a Touch-stone to try their true and constant affection I suffer them now and then to groan under the heavy load of many tribulations and Crosses but 't is with a design to cleanse their Souls of all earthly corruption and make them fit to sit at my table in Heaven Hear then O Man my words and print them in the midst of thy Heart ruminate on them often and with all possible Attention for they will be most useful in time of temptation and tho' thou dost not understand them at present yet thou shalt comprehend their full meaning in the day of my visitation Thou must know when and after what manner I do visit my faithful Servants first I visit them with Temptations of all sorts to train them up in that School of Heaven in which I had the credit of being both Master and Conqueror I suffer temptations to teach my followers they must expect the same but I conquer'd also all my temptations to shew them how to behave themselves in the like occasion but if I see them stagger and fail in courage I visit them with the sweetness of my consolation and inable them to stand firm not to desert from my Colours I am likewise a Teacher to my Elect and reade unto them every day two Lessons th' one is a sharp reprehension if I see them fail in their duty in order to suppress their evil inclinations and habits and th' other is a potent exhortation to stir up their hearts to a fervent desire of a greater increase in virtue In fine whoever hears my words and will not regard them but rather deride and contemn them he shall at the last day finde me a severe Judge from whom he is to expect no favour but the same measure he gave me in his life shall be exactly dealt him and worse that is to turn him off to the left hand and there leave him as a prey to the Devil for all Eternity MAN REmember O most merciful Lord that we are of our own nature but misery weakness and in a word as little to be regarded as the meanest of thy Creatures for what are we in our greatest splendour but so many vessels of nasty stuff fit for no other use but to be cast out set so many foot under ground lest the noisom smell of our rotten Carcasses should infect the house or family wherein we depart this life Our frailty is so great that it cannot be paralel'd in any other creature of whatever State or Condition our vanity is no less if not surpassing our frailty What shall such a poor Creature do amidst so strong and so many allurements to sin of one side the world sollicites him to be of his faction tast of his pleasures at will the Flesh inclines him another way the Devil perswades him to slight his own proper interest i. e. to be happy eternally by adhering to his Creator and to side with him against God Moreover he seeth that the wicked are the Darlings of Fortune and have all earthly pleasures at command but he beholds the righteous and faithful followers of God groaning under the weighty burthen of great tribulations nay he verily thinks thee to look on the wicked with a pleasing aspect and to frown on the Just what confirms him in this opinion is the assurance thou givest them of pardon whenever they shall with true repentance come to thee this they take as an incouragement for sinners to continue their licentious and wicked life and even so it falls out with many they spend their youth in all manner of unlawful pleasures nay they will intrench upon old age rather then desist their long continued disorders yet when by thy Decree a violent Sickness seizeth them and confines them to their bed then they continually implore thee for mercy Peccavi is their deplorable ditty which they incessantly repeat till they expire must we not piously believe that such are saved notwithstanding the long Series of their wickedness and sins yes and this consideration holds us in our rambling vicious humours and likewise it expells all thoughts of recanting from our mind the frequent Presidents of thy mercy exhibited to far more wicked livers retards our conversion so doth the conceit of that narrow and craggy Passage which as thou sayst can only lead us to Heaven Moreover why should we impose that heavy yoke upon our younger days seeing that Heaven is promised to us at any time when we shall cry Peccavi tho' we should omit it even to our decrepid Age. SAVIOVR O' Man the more frail thou art and the more prone to sin the more vigilant careful should'st thou be and timorous not to fall into sin lest thou should'st be foil'd overcom'd and fall from the state of Grace into that of damnation for it 's a point of extream folly that a weak unskilful and filly man should undertake to encounter such strong cunning expert and fierce Enemies as thou haft to fight withal whoever is so far over seen will certainly be worsted and loose his life to boot This is thy case O' Man the Devil thy mortal enemy will easily get the better of thee and soon o'rethrow thee if thou art not well fortifi'd with virtue and shielded with Gods grace and protection and assisted by his holy Angels The Prince of the Apostles was not ignorant of this truth he experienc'd it in his own person and therefore being highly interest'd in the welfare of his Masters flock he leaves unto them this wholsome instruction 1. Pet. 5.8 my Brethren be Sober be Vigilant but why because your Adversary the Devil as a roaring Lion walks about seeking
whom he may devour I do grant that the allurements to sin are great and numerous but the motives that I lay before all mortals to adhere to make use of on all such occasions are incomparably more in number and of greater force to repulse all temptations they are also very prevalent to induce 'em to lead a virtuous and godly life The world thou sayst invitest thee to unlawfull and wicked actions but God prohibits them nay he commands the contrary and if thou dost obey him he intails on thee a glorious and everlasting inheritance but if thou hast so little regard of his commands as to trangress them he threatens thee with everlasting damnation and torments The flesh inclines thee to evil but the spirit and reason too bids thee resist manfully such base and rebellious motions the one tells thee that the body is created to be a slave to the Soul not the Soul to the body th' other informs thee what a madness it is to forfeit an eternal happiness for a passing pleasure which ever leaves a sting to pierce and gall thy heart Sodom and Gomorrha were too much led by the flesh but consider well the terrible chastisement they suffer'd in this world yet it is but a shadow to what they shall suffer for an eternity Moreover that gnawing worm of a guilty Conscience should quell in thee all such foul and unlawfull pleasures Thou wilt plead that Satan with the rest of his infernal Confederates never desist perplexing thee with their frequent and strong suggestions and art thou the only man that he assaults no no his quarrel is with all mankind and since that fatal overthrow which he gave our first Progonitors in the garden of Eden he never ceas'd neither will he ever leave off pestering and plaguing their descendants with suggestions to evil Latrare potest Sollicitare potest sed mordere non potest nifi volentem Aug. Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te Mat. 4.6 for nothing makes them so furious and cruel as to see men in a fair way of possessing their forfeited and glorious Seats but thy chief comfort and security lyes within thy own breast he is like a Mastive-Dog at a chain he may indeed bark at thee but can never bite thee unless thou dost come within his reach and consent to thy own destruction Moreover God has deputed an Angel even from thy Mothers womb to protect and defend thee from all such accidents and he will perform his charge if thou wilt but obey him and listen to his wholsome inspirations and dictates If Satan does spur thee on to the Precipice of Sin thy good Angel will teach thee Non coronabitur nisi qui legirtime certaverit 2. Timo. 2.5 how thou mayst in thy conflict secure thy self either by a vigorous opposition or an immediate flight to God for Sanctuary He will also tell thee that thou art created to fight the mortal enemy of mankind and must foil him too if thou hopest to gain a crown in Heaven As for the wicked whom thou thinkest to be of the number of Gods happy favorites because thou seest them prosper in all their ways and that nothing crosseth them that they have plenty of Gold and Silver Horses and all other Cattle in abundance no mortality visits them Prosperitas Stultorum perdet ilios Prov. 1. Non audivit populus mens vocem meam Israel non intendit mihi dimisi eos secundum desideria cordis eorum ibunt in adinventionibus suis Psal 80. Multae tribulationes Justorum Psal 7.20 Non sunt condigâ—ae passiones hujus temporis ad fu turam gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis Rom. 8.18 Rain Wind Storms Thunder Lightnings do pass by them and by all they possess as well abroad as at home but believe me says the wise Solomon that this Prosperity of the wicked which thou dost so much extol and make so great an estimate of as to think them in that to be the Minnious of God will at the cancelling of their life hurry their Souls to the Abbiss of Hell Let the Stiff-necked people of Israel serve for a president to convince thee that I delight not in the wicked They would not hearken to my voice neither would they acknowledge me to be their God and what was the effect of their disobedience and infidelity I withdrew and wholly left them to be guided by their own sensual appetites and they took their self-pleasing courses and follow'd the directions of their own Councels This is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on a Nation for then their reprobation is sign'd never to be recall'd Many indeed are the tribulations of the Just but my worthy Apostle telleth thee from me that the sufferings of this present time are infinitly less then the Glory which shall be reveal'd in my faithful and devoted Servants hereafter I deal with them on earth as a skilful Physitian with his Patients I cleanse their Souls of all their sinfull spots by giving them to drink of that bitter Chalice of tribulations by which they are disposed to partake of a more abundant grace and brought to a nearer conformity with me who exhausted the same Chalice of its very dregs by this remedy they are secur'd from th' everlasting pains of hell which are incomparably greater and of a longer tract then all the tribulations and crosses that were suffer'd by all mankinde in this world and the same intitleth them my Associates in Heaven to sit at my table to enjoy my presence for ever and all the happiness that my celestial Court can afford Ego quos diligo arguo castigo Apoc. 3. Thou seest by this what unspeakable advantages the Just do reap by their tribulations and how the tenderness of my love to them appears even in the severity of my chastisements No Father can be more indulgent to his Child then I am to the Sinner for tho' the greatness and multitude of his heinous offences deserve no mercy at my hands but rather the utter severity of my Justice yet commonly I for bear with him still expecting his amendment but the longer I let him run in the way of iniquity the more he should be terrified for sins never escape without condign punishment and the longer it is deferred the heavier it will fall at last T is true the sinner has my parole for a pardon at any time when he comes to me with true repentance Qui poenitenti veniam promisi Eundem de die crastino nequaquam certificavi 12. Aug. Terra miseriae terra tenebrarum ubi nulius ordo sed sempiternus horror inhabitat Job 10.12 that is a gift from God and which he is not sure to receive no more then he is certain to live till next day That fatal delay of repentance has replenish'd the Dominion of Satan with millions of poor Souls and if any should set them the question what brought them to that
ready to drop down upon their criminal and guilty heads the sweet perfumes of thy divine virtues and the rare examples of thy Saints cann't prevail with them no they cann't tast of thy Chalice nor feel thy Scorges nor acknowledge thy Benefits tho' they are sufficient to melt a heart of Steel In fine Sin takes quite away the peace the joy and the tranquility of a good eonscience it does extinguish the fervour of the Spirit and leaves poor man sordid maculate deform'd and abominable in the sight of God and of all his Saints Yet by the benefit of thy Justification we are happily deliver'd from all these plagues evil consequences of Sin and the abyss of thy divine mercies is not content to have forgiven us our offences and receive us into favour but does also expell all those evils which are inseparable from Sin leaving our interiour man in the real possession of his former prerogatives and likeness to God Thou dost heal up our wounds wash off our spots break loofe the fetters and chains of our iniquitys destroy the yoke of our evil desires retrieve us from the slavery of Satan qualify the fury of our unruly passions and the heat of our vicious affections Thou dost likewise restore to the Soul her former freedom and beauty revive her interiour fenses dispose them to the exercise of all good works and to the abhorrence of any that 's bad Thou givest strength to resist manfully all the temptations of the Devil and to go through all the difficulties that might hinder the practise of virtue and their increase of devotion In fine my Sweet Saviour thou dost so absolutely revive and repair our interiour man and all his faculties that thy Apostle Scruples not to call such men Justifi'd Souls metamorphos'd natures new modell'd Spirits Creatures of another stamp This innovation is so great and so much to be admir'd that it 's worth our labour to finde out how and after what manner it is perform'd O my Saviour thou alone canst tell me truly the nature of it and the only one that can impart so great a blessing to my poor and languishing Soul wherefore let me hear thy solution to the matter SAVIOVR THou must know then O man that this so great a renovation when 't is perform'd by the means of Baptism may be call'd Regeneration but if it be done by Contrition and with the assistance of Pennance then 't is call'd resurrection not only because the Soul is rais'd from the Death of Sin to the Life of Grace but by reason it resembles so nearly the glorious beauty of future Resurrection No mortal tongue is able to express the radiant Splendor and supereminent beauty of a Justifi'd Soul 't is a mistery reserv'd to my Holy Spirit who made her so glorious with a design she should be his own Temple and place of residence Were all the wealth of the World all the imaginable dignities and honours of this life all the natural Graces and gifts together with all the acquir'd virtues and all other earthly advantages that can be thought of conferr'd with the beauty and treasures of a Justifi'd Soul all in comparison with her is vile obscure ill-favour'd and of no value No for there is as much difference betwixt the life of Grace and the life of Nature betwixt the beauty of the Soul Justifi'd and that of the body betwixt the interiour Riches of such a Soul and the exteriour of the body as there is betwixt Heaven Earth betwixt the Spirit and the body or betwixt Time and Eternity Because all these are circumscrib'd with certain limits they are temporal they appear handsom to corporal eyes and require only my general concourse to support them whereas the other depends on my particular and supernatural influence and have no prefix'd bounds because I am their object and they are so precious in my sight and of so great an estimate that they provoke even my divine Essence to be ardently enamour'd with their beauty I might have wrought all these wonders with my sole presence yet I would not but was pleas'd to adorn the Soul with my infus'd virtues and the Seven gifts of my Holy Ghost whereby not only her Essence but even her very faculties are cloth'd and adorn'd with those habitual and heavenly dresses Besides all these divine favours and benefits she is made happy with the constant presence of my divine Spirit and of the most adorable Trinity for all resides in a justifi'd Soul to teach her how to manage so great a treasure to her best advantage Matt. 12. wherein I act the part of a most loving Father who is not satisfi'd to have given Riches to his Son but gives him withal a Futor that knows how to Administer them well Luc. 11. Thou know'st that a multitude of vipors Serpents and Dragons I mean of evil Spirits enter into the Soul of a Sinner and makes her their habitation as thou mayst reade in my Gospel but 't is otherwise with a justifi'd Soul for I with my Father and Holy Spirit dwell there and having banish'd thence all evil Si quis diligit me Sermonem meum servabit Pater meus diliget eum ad eum veniomus mansionem apud eum faciemus Joan. 14. and Infernal Spirits we make her our temple our throne and Garden of pleasure as thou mayst finde in St. John where I say if a man love me he will keep my words my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him All the Doctors of my Holy Church as well Ecclesiastick as Scholastick grounded upon these my words do firmly believe that my Holy Ghost dwells in a justifi'd Soul after a certain and peculiar manner and say moreover that he does not only confer his Gifts upon her but comes himself along with them with a fix'd resolution to clense Sanctify and adorn her as well with his constant presence as with all his heavenly treasures O man if all these extraordinary favours be not able to mollify thy flinty heart and force it to leave and forsake the paths of Sin and to gather also all thy Scatter'd affections and lead them towards me who am the most deserving of them I shall add more pressing motives to bring thee to so good so gracious and so benificial a resolution The First that occurs is that all the justifi'd are my living members so that I love and cherish them as my own and am no less careful to provide for them to protect and comfort them then were they all parts of my proper body nay without any intermission I influence them with my inspirations and graces even as the head communicates his vital Spirits into all the rest of its members moreover my Eternal Father beholds them with a gracious eye as being my living members united concorporate with me by the participation of his divine Spirit and therefore all their deeds are
perpetual decree that it can't pass it and tho' the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail tho' they roar yet can they not pass over it as if he had said hast thou not a great deal of reason to dread the Arm of so powerful a God whose omnipotency is sufficiently discover'd by this prodigious work And if he be so great in all his works thou must likewise acknowledge him to be great in the chastisement of Sinners The same Prophet was Innocent and free from the least spot of Sin being Sanctifi'd in his Mothers womb yet he trembles at the very noise of my Severity to Sinners and says there is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee does it appertain For as much as among all the wisemen of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee My heart is replenish'd with the fear of thy wrath and therefore have sequester'd my felf from the converse of all men into a remote wilderness to prevent thy fury and appease thy Anger with sorrow with Sighs and with a continual flood of tears Respicit Terram facit eam tremere tangit montes fumigant Psa 105. Stellae Columnae Coeli pavent contremiscuntad nutum ejus Job 26.11 Ideo sn uno die venient plagaeejus mors luctus fames igne comburetur quia fortis est Dominus Deus qui Jndicabit illam Ap. c. 18.8 Tho' this holy man was certain that my Indignation and wrath was not against him yet seeing it so great and ready to fall with all its weight upon the criminal and guilty heads of Sinners he had no less then cause to tremble being that even my looks put the Earth in a quaking fit and make the Mountains groan nay they make the Stars and even the Pillars of Heaven to tremble they are astonish'd at my reproof and why not being that the Angels and Archangels the Cherubins and Seraphins the Principalities and Powers of Heaven are all Struck into an amazement at the very aspect of my most dreadful Majesty and angry countenance not that they fear to be depriv'd of their glory but because the greatness of my indignation is such that they can't but be astonish'd at the very sight of me By this thou mayst Judge in what a deplorable condition the Damn'd will be for these are the unhappy wretches which are to feel the weight of my wrath all their plagues shall come upon them in one day everlasting death mourning and famine shall be their inheritance for ever they shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth them My Apostle had a sufficient tryal of my Strength when I forc'd him out of the way of iniquity Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis Heb. 10.31 and of a Persecutor of Christians made him the Defender and powerful promoter of Christianity therefore he says it 's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God not into the hands of men for they are not so powerful but criminals may fly from their violence and decline from their anger moreover they have not the authority to cast a Soul into the Dungeon of Hell It 's therefore I had warn'd my Disciples not to fear them which kill the Body Mat. 10.28 and are not able to kill the Soul but rather to fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and body in Hell And these are the hands which my Apostle calls dreadful they are them also that the wise man speaks of where he says unless ye do pennance and give that slender attonement of tears and of a hearty grief to God for your sins ye shall undoubtedly fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men By what is already said thou mayst easily conclude that as I am omnipotent and great in my power in my Majesty and in all my works I am the same in my wrath in my Justice and in the punishment which I have decreed for the Damned If thou wilt examine Scripture thou shalt finde there such dreadful effects of my Justice upon the wicked even in this life which is the only season for mercy that thou shalt be forc'd to confess that the pains of Hell must be as intollerable as they are unspeakable and that it were better for the dam'd they had never been born then to endure them for an Eternity without any hopes of redemption or of the least abatement What a terrible punishment was that of Dathan and Abiram and of all their Complices in the sight of that numerous People of Israel at the request of my Servant Moises to vindicate his innocency and punish the wrong which was intended to him by those Peoples rising in Rebellion against him I commanded the Earth to open its bowels and to swallow them alive together with all their Earthly substance down into the bottomless pit of Hell which was no sooner commanded then put in execution The punishment of Sodom and Gomorah if well consider'd is able to terify the stoutest Bully that ever appear'd on the Stage of this world to mollify his obdurate heart and force from his mouth Lord what wilt thou have me do They were so much addicted to that brutish pleasure Domine quid me vis facere Act. 9.6 and sordid Sin of the flesh that they must attempt even upon my very Angels and strive to make them the subject of their Lust this was a general corruption and therefore requir'd a general chastisement their Sins cry'd for vengeance Gen. 19.24 and tho' I was sollicited by my Servant Abraham to spare their lives for the sake of ten Just men knowing there was none but Lot who was already secured and under the safeguard of my Angels I pour'd down wild-fire and brimstone upon them and cast them headlong into Hell-fire there to increase the fatal number of the damn'd and to become partakers of their torments as they had been of their crimes on Earth Didst thou ever hear such terrible menaces as are set down in Deuteronomy Deut. 28.16 17. c. and which were exactly put in execution against the transgressours of my Law Hear how the Prophet speaks to them in my behalf Cursed shalt thou be in the City and Cursed shalt thou be in the field Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in enrfed shalt thou be when thou goest out The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation rebuke in all that thou set'st thine hand unto for to do untill thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast for saken me The Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and with a Fever and with an inflamation and with an extream burning and with the sword and with blasting and they
shall pursue thee until thou perish Thy Carcase shall be meat unto all Fowls of the Air and unto the Beasts of the Earth and no man shall fray them away The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt and with the Emerods and with the Scab and with the Itch whereof thou shalt not be heal'd The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness and astonishment of heart Thou shalt grope at noon-day as the blinde grope in darkness and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways and thou shalt be oppress'd and spoil'd evermore and no man shall save thee Thou shalt serve thine Enemies which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things and he shall put a yoak of Iron about thy neck until he have destroy'd thee The Lord shall bring a Nation against thee from far from the end of the Earth as swift as the Eagle flys and shall besiege thee in all thy gates until thy high and fenc'd-walls come down wherein thou trustest and thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body the flesh of thy Sons and of thy Daughters which the Lord thy God has given thee in the Siege and in the straitness wherewith thine Enemies shall distress thee so that the man that is tender among you and very delicate his eye shall be evil towards his Brother and towards the Wife of his bosom and towards the remnant of his Children which he shall leave so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his Children whom he shall eat because he has nothing left him in the Siege and in the straitness wherewith thine Enemys shall distress thee in all thy gates The tender and delicate Woman among you which would not adventure to set the Sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness her eye shall be evil towards the Husband of her bosom and towards her Son towards her Daughter and towards her young one that cometh out from between her feet and towards her Children which she shall bear for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the Siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates Certainly these are most horrible dreadful punishments yet they and many more such like chastisements which I have heap'd upon the wicked even in this life for their Sins are no more then a very imperfect shadow and figure of what the damn'd do suffer in Hell for there my Justice shall act to its full extent and rigour against those that made nothing of my mercy in this life If the shaddow be so dreadful what will the reality be If now my Justice having a mixture of mercy with it and if the Chalice of my wrath temper'd with the water of my Grace seems notwithstanding so intollerable bitter what will it be when it shall come violently those unfortunate Souls without any mixture at all of my mercy Esa 27. When I shall Judge in measure against measure as the Prophet says Jer. 25. when I shall exercise Judgment in weight in Justice and measure Apoc. 20. 22. when I shall pay them home according to their particular works and according to the inventions of their deprav'd and rebellious hearts Psal 27. 61. when I shall command the Infernal Spirits to chastise all and each of them according to their demerits Apoc. 18. when I shall give them this charge of Babylon now thrown down into the Lake Look how much she has glorifi'd her self and how long she has liv'd in delights so much torments and afflictions give her and continue her the same entertainment for ever without affording her the least comfort or respit of ease The Holy Fathers and Doctors of my Church grounded upon my word believe a variety of torments in Hell for the Damn'd according to the variety of the Sins which they had committed in their Life for the Adulterer shall have one kinde of torment the Murtherer another the Thief another the Drunkard another the Lyer another and the rest accordingly The Proud shall be trodden under the feet of Devils and box'd by every one that meets him with a Sirrah to boot thou hast damn'd thy Soul for a point of Honour And thou Lady of pleasure for a Paint and a wash for thy face and hands forfooth to make them look white plump and smooth to the view of thy Gallants hast made thy Soul as black as even our master Devil O what a killing reproach will this be The Glutton shall have for his morning and evening drink Ps 148.8 fire hail snow froft the spirit of Tempest season'd with the unsufferable Stench of so many Millions of damn'd rotten rosted Carcases St. Bonaventure will tell thee that if one only body of the damn'd were brought into the world and laid in any part or corner thereof it were sufficient to infect the whole Earth Thou mayst Judge by this what a dreadful potion the Glutton is to have in Hell the Drunkard also shall have a full share of the same Cup. The delicious mouth shall be fill'd up with Gall and the delicate body fear'd with hot-burning Irons O man take notice how well the Doctrine of my Church agrees with the Dictates of the Holy Ghost for speaking of the wicked he says the bread in his belly shall be turn'd into the Gall of Serpents Job 20. He shall be constrain'd to vomit out again the Riches which he had devour'd God shall pull them forth of his belly He shall be constrain'd to suck the galls of Cockatrices and the tongues of Adders shall slay him He shall bear the smart of all that ever he has done and yet shall he not be consum'd but shall suffer according to the multitude of all his devices These words shew plainly that wicked men shall suffer particular torments for their particular crimes as Gluttony Extortion Oppression c. And that these torments shall be far beyond the expression of any mortal tongue what shall I say of the continuance and length thereof which is another circumstance no less terrible then the former for their torments shall be of the same extent with Eternity which has no end and withall there shall be no possibility of any jot of help ease intermission relaxation respiration or comfort And this is signifi'd by my words so often repeated Ligatis manibus pedibus projicite eum in tenebras exteriores Matth. 12. The Damn'd shall be cast into Hell bound hand and foot that is without all ability of resistance or strugling against their torments The dreadful shutting up of the gate which I fore-told in a doleful manner and with a heavy heart is a sufficient evidence of it Clausa est Januae The gate is shut up and made fast for ever that is to say in Hell the gate of all mercy Matth. 25. of all pardon of all
ease of all intermission of all comfort is shut up for ever There is none to be expected from Heaven none from Earth none from the Creatour and none from all the Creatures no were they thy dearest friends and nearest relations there is no consolation to be hop'd for but extream desolation for all Eternity Luc. 16. Thou hast a lively expression hereof in that dreadful Parable of the rich Glutton in Hell see to what an extream necessity he was driven to desire after so pittiful a manner that Lazarus might dip the top only of his finger in water to cool his tongue therewith in the midst of that scorching fire wherein he was tormented and yet this small favour this slender request would not be granted to him O ye rich of the world that make your Gods your treasures consider seriously the severity of my Justice Redde rationem villicationis tuae Luc. 16.2 what a strict account you are to give me of all your expences how and after what manner you have spent the least sarthing consider also what torments you shall suffer in Hell if you have imploy'd your wealth as this unfortunate glutton had done to pamper up your bodys without any regard to your Souls And let this consideration move you to the perfect amendment of your lives now while you do live and the gate of my mercy is open to you This is the only time wherein you may avoid all those everlasting misfortunes now is the only season to prevent my indignation wrath if you be wise you will not delay a matter of such great importance for you do not know what will become of you to morrow no nor what you may be an hour hence Noli te obdurate corda vestra c. Psal 94.8 Do not harden your hearts as the people of Israel did in the provocation as in the day of temptation in the wilderness Iest I swear in my wrath that you shall not enter into my rest If Pharaoh had resolv'd an amendment while Moises was with him how fortunate a Creature had he been If the rich Glutton had taken the time while Lazarus lay at his door how blessed a man had he made himself He was foretold his misery as you are now by Moises and other Prophets according to my directions but he would not take notice of their words he gave no ear to their exhortations but soon after he fell into such detestation of his own folly that he would needs have Lazarus sent from Abrahams bosom unto his Brethren in the world to warn them of his error and evil consequences thereof But Abraham answer'd it was to no purpose in as much as they would give no credit to Lazarus but rather stone him to death for disgracing their honour'd deceas'd Brother by revealing his torments The wicked men now alive would do no less to any that should tell them of their Parents and Friends being tormented in Hell for such offences as themselves are guilty of What could I do more to save their Souls then to send them Preachers and Teachers to give them necessary instructions to work their Salvation They were often told that leading the life they do they can't avoid the misfortune of this unhappy wretch they know or ought to know that many before them have been damn'd for less matters They cann't choose but know that they must shortly dy and receive themselves as they receiv'd living as they did or rather worse They are often told that the pains prepar'd for the wicked are intollerable and eternal too They do acknowledge them to be most unfortunate that for any pleasure or interest of this world have run the hazard of their own Salvation and have made themselves the worthy objects of my everlasting indignation and yet they continue their wicked course of life An divitias bonitatis ejus longanimi atem contemnis ignorans quoniam benignitas Dei ad paenitentiam te adducit secundum autem duritiam tuam impaenitens cor tuum thesanrirasti iram in die irae revalationis justi Judicy Dei qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus Rom. 2.4 5 6. despising the riches of my goodness and forbearance long suffering not knowing that my goodness leads them to repentance but after their harden'd and impenitent hearts they treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of my righteous Judgment who wil render to them according to their deeds Tell me O man who ever would be so earnest to heap up a treasure as not to let one day pass without adding something to it and that for the space of fifty or threescore years sure he would then at the opening of his trunks finde a vast treasure this is thy case O unfortunate wretch dost thou not know that there is not a day or an hour that passes wherein thou dost not increase the treasure of my wrath which is reserved for thy destruction and which is augmented by every Sin thou dost commit every lascivious look thou givest every unclean thought every impure desire thy hatred thy revenge thy great oaths thy perjurys thy blasphemys with the rest of thy wicked doings which are enough to fill up a vast volume and going on thus for the space of so many years how immense must be the treasure of my wrath against thee if thou diest impenitent Thou must know that I am thy God and thy Judge too consequently that my duty is to take care that the punishment be equal to the offence Hebr. 10.29 Rursum crucifi gentes sibimet ipsis filium Dei ostentui habentes Hebr. 6.6 Memorare novissima tua in aeternum non peccabis Eccl. 7.40 and satisfactory to the person offended Thou hast troden me under foot and hast counted the blood of the covenant wherewith thou wert sanctifi'd an unholy thing and hast done despite unto the spirit of my grace nay thou hast often crucifi'd me to thy self and put me to an open shame wherefore as I am infinite in all my Attributes and in all respects thy pains must be likewise infinite in all manner of rigour O man thou hast given me hitherto a reasonable account of matters belonging to thy Salvation and as this point is one of the chiefest conducing to it and besides is a main obstacle to the increase of vice I do not doubt but thou art sufficiently instructed herein let me therefore hear from thee what the holy Fathers and Doctours of my Church say of the Damn'd and of the rigour of their punishments MAN Infandum Jehova Jubes renovare dolores Inferni poenas quas detestabile Regnum Ditis habet quarum pars magna est faetor ignis Adde quod aeterno privantur lumine Solis Cunctipotentis ibi torquentur corpora miris Nocte diuque modis Nulli patet exitus ex hoc Ignivomente Lacn Densa in caligine pressi Damnati stabunt manibus pedibusque
do more for you then that says Darius for you shall have them all three again So he order'd them to be slain before his face and left him their bodys Xerxes dealt not much better with Pythius who had five Sons and desir'd only one of them for himself Xerxes bad him to take his choice and he claim'd the Eldest whom he immediately commanded to be cut in halves and one half of the body to be laid on each side of the way where his Army was to pass that they might march betwixt them undoubtedly a most inauspicious Sacrifice for He came to the end that he deserv'd and liv'd to see that prodigious Power Scatter'd and broken and instead of Military and victorious Troops to be compass'd with dead Carcases But these you 'l say were only barbarous Princes that knew neither civility nor letters And these Savage crueltys will be imputed perchance to their rudeness of manners and want of Discipline But what if Alexander the great that was train'd up under the institution even of the Prince of Philosophers should be guilty of an action altogether as barbarous did he not kill Clytus his Favourite and School-fellow with his own hand under his own Roof and over the freedom of a Cup of Wine And what was his Crime He was loth to degenerate from a Macedonian liberty into a Persian-Slavery that is to say He could not flatter Lysimacus another of his friends he expos'd to a Lyon and glad would he have been to have had nails and teeth to have devour'd him himself It would have too much derogated he thought from the dignity of his wrath to have appointed a man for the execution of his friend And this very Lysimacus after he had escap'd this danger was never the more merciful when he came to reign himself for he cut off the ears and nose of his friend Telesphorus and when he had so disfigured him that he had no longer the face of a man he threw him into a Dungeon and there kept him to be shew'd for a Monster as a strange sight The place was so low that he was fain to creep upon all four and his sides were gall'd too with the straitness of it In this misery he lay half famish'd in his own filth so odious so terrible and so loathsome a spectacle that the horrour of his condition had even extinguish'd all pity for him Nothing was ever so unlike a man as the poor wretch that suffer'd this saving the cruel Tryant that acted it But what is all this to the cruelty and Tyranny which the Devil shall exercise upon the Souls and Bodies of his infernal Caitiss August l. 1. de civit c. 10. St. Augustin says that he will fasten them to malign Spirits which shall be all inflam'd with fire that he shall manicle and bolt them with other fiery bodys so that they shall not be able to remove from one place to another that they shall have perpetually before their eyes such terrible and hideous shapes proportionable to their offences as shall be able to frighten them out of their lives The holy Scripture says that the damn'd shall be so straitned and crowded together in that infernall Dungeon that they may be very well compar'd to grapes in the wine-press which do press one another until they burst That their Souls shall swim in the middle of a most dreadful Lake of fire like fishes in the Sea V. Less de perfect Divin l. 13 c. 30. and that this fire shall enter into their very substance even as the water comes into the mouth nose and ears of a drowned body Telesphorus was cast into a deep Dungeon without cloths expos'd to the inclemency of the cold and moisture of the place where he could not see the light of Heaven or have any thing to feed upon but once in four and twenty hours a little piece of hard barly bread and a little water to drink where he was to continue all his life without speaking or seeing any body and no other beel to sleep upon but the cold noisom and nasty ground up to his navel in his own dung O what a misery this was certainly one weeks lodging there would appear longer then a hundred years elsewhere Yet if we compare this with that banishment and prison of Hell we shall finde the misery of this man to be a main happiness in regard of that which the damn'd suffer in their dark and dreadful habitation In his troubles he met with none so hard-hearted as to Scoff and jest at his misfortunes none to torment and whip him but in Hell they shall finde both for the Devils shall never cease to deride whip and torment them most cruelly There he had no horrid sights no fearful noises of howlings groanings lamentations but in Hell the eyes and ears of the damn'd shall never be free from all those distasters There he had no flames of fire to scorch him but in Hell they shall burn even into the very bowels There he might move and turn from one side to the other But in Hell they are not permitted to stir out of the place nor change their posture to give themselves the least ease There he might breath now and then some little fresh Air but in hell they shall suck in nothing but flames stink and Sulpher There he might have some hopes of release after the Tyrant's death but in Hell they have no expectation of goal-delivery no hope of being ever redeem'd There the least peice of hard bread would seem to him every day a fine Regale but in Hell for an Eternity they shall not behold a crumb of bread nor a drop of water but shall eternally rage with a dog-like hunger and a burning thirst This is the grand calamity of that Land of darkness barren of all things but of the brambles and thorns of grief and torments Caesar would commonly for exercise and pleasure put Senators and Roman Knights to the torture and whip several of them like slaves or put them to death with the most accurate torments meerly for the satisfaction of his cruelty That Caesar who wish'd the People of Rome had all but one neck that he might cut it off at one blow Cruelty was the imployment the Study and the Joy of his life He would not so much as give the expiring leave to groan but caus'd their mouths to be stop'd with spunges or for want of them with rags of their own cloths that they might not breath out so much as their last Agonies at liberty nay he was so impatient of delay that he would frequently rise from Supper to have men kill'd by torch-light as if his life and death had depended upon their dispatch before the next morning To say nothing how many Fathers were put to death by him in the same night with their Sons which was a kinde of mercy in the preventing of their mourning And was not Sylla's cruelty prodigious too
In an Age of license to all sorts of vanity and wickedness as Lust Gluttony Avarice Envy Ambition Sloth Insolence Levity Contumacy Fear Rashness private Discords and publick Evils extravagant and groundless wishes vain Confidence sickly affections shameless Impiety Rapine authoriz'd and the violation of all things Sacred and prophane Obligations are pursu'd with Sword and Poison Benefits are turn'd into Crimes and that blood most seditiously spilt for which every honest man should expose his own Those that should be the preservers of their Country are the destroyers of it and 't is matter of dignity to trample upon the Government the Sword gives the Law and Mercenaries take up arms against their Masters Among these turbulent and unruly motions what hope is there of finding honesty or good Faith which is the life of all virtues there is not a more lively Image of humane life then that of a conquer'd City There is neither Mercy Modesty nor Religion and if we forget our lives we may well forget the obligations we have to thee and all thy benefits too But let us consider seriously the multitude and greatness of thy divine blessings deal with thee even as one man does with another The wise man says that gifts break Rocks Victoriam honorem acquirit qui dat munera animam autem aufert accipientium Prov. 22.9 and shall not thy divine benefits move a heart of flesh and if they can steal the hearts of the receivers according to Solomon how come we not to be rob'd of our Souls by thee O Lord For thou dost not only give us thy gifts but also dost bestow thy self upon us as a most precious treasure If we consider the benefits which we have receiv'd from thee in our Creation they are as many as we have members of our bodys and faculties of our Souls If those of our Conservation they are equal in number to the distinct natures in Heaven and on Earth The Elements the Sun the Moon the Stars and the whole World were created for our preservation for without them we could not subsist If we look upon the benefits of our Redemption We shall be easily convinc'd that they are as many as there are evils in Hell from which we are happily deliver'd by thy Passion and total effusion of thy most precious bloud Those of our Justification are no less in number then are the Sacraments which thou hast instituted to increase our Merits and work the Sanctification of our Souls then the Graces and Inspirations which thou dost shower down into our hearts and the divine Examples which thou hast left us Nonne haec opportuit Christum pati ita intrare in gloriam suam Luc. 24.26 which should invite us all to tread with a masculine courage in the same paths which brought thee O Lord into thine own glory All these with thousands of other benefits and obligations which we have receiv'd from thee and by thy Creatures cry out unto us to love thee with all our heart with all our Soul with all our Powers and to trample under our feet this false World with all it's vanitys trifles transitory pleasures But alas We make nothing of all thy benefits We give no ear to all their crys but rather will love the World and tast of its pleasures in as ample a measure as our fortunes will afford us wherein we seem to be worse then even the very Heathens for Aristides tho' he was reputed to be one of the greatest Men of Athens yet he was so avers'd to the Pomp and toys of the World and so affected to poverty that he always wore a course broken garment suffer'd Hunger Cold and Thirst not for any want of means or friends to relieve him but meerly for his own fancy Zeno was nothing concern'd when news was brought to him that he had lost all what he had in the World When An xagoras receiv'd the like news he said no more then if my Goods had not perish'd I had been undone Crates flung his whole substance into the Sea with this expression It is better I drown you then you me Diogenes bid adieu to all he had in the World and took nothing with him but a wooden dish and seeing by chance one drink out of the hollow of his hand broke that also And shall we refuse to do in obedience to thy Commands O Lord for the purchase of an eternal weight of glory what they freely and gladly perform'd to pleasure their own fancies and gain the repute of being Philosophers O madness O ingratitude never to be paralel'd Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi Ps 115.12 Tho' We are thine by so many just titles and thou hast given thy self and all what thou hast unto us yet we never think of what We ought to do for thee nor how We shall express our thankfulness for such and so great benefits This was the greatest care that David took and the sole subject of his most serious consideration what shall I return unto the Lord for all the favours which he has confirm'd upon me But O blessed King and Prophet give me leave to ask thee what are those favours 'T is true he has rais'd thee from the Station of a Shepherd to the dignity of a King He has enabl'd thee to encounter a Giant and to get the better of him too He has often protected thee against the evil Spirit of Saul and has preserv'd thy life from all the wicked and treacherous attempts he made to destroy thee these are great obligations indeed and deserve thy grateful return but are nothing to the benefits which we have receiv'd at his hands his love for us was so great that he suffer'd death to bring us to life everlasting and left unto us for food to our Souls his most precious body and blood certainly these obligations are unspeakable and deserve at least that small attonement of returning back unto him our Souls hearts and bodys for as we had them from him 't is our weighty obligation to let him have them again entirely and free from any love-to the World or affection to the Creatures so that We are to account our selves now and evermore as only his and not our own consequently We are not to debase our love by placing it upon any worldly object but to settle it wholly upon him alone And really if we consider seriously the infinite love which thou hast for us O Lord We shall finde that we have no love left to bestow either upon the World or any terrene object no nor upon our selves for We must know that love consists in action and the more it acts or suffers the greater is the perfection thereof how great then must thy love be O Lord being thou hast wrought such Stupendious works for our Salvation still dost continue to work the like for our preservation the Sun the Moon Omnia subjecisti sub
Lord are constantly fix'd upon those that fear him there 's not a step they go nor an action they do nor a word they speak but he takes an account of He is the powerful Protector of the godly the upholder of the virtuous the Defender of the zealous a comfort to the afflicted a refuge to the Just from the Scorching heat of Lust and all other vices a Preserver from all mortal offences their main help in all their adversitys exalting their Souls illuminating their eyes giving them life health and his everlasting blessings O how many kinds of employments do I take upon me for the welfare and preservation of man Apud Dominum gressus hominis dirigentur viam ejus volet cum ceciderit non collidetur quia Dominus supponit manum suam Psal 36.23 24. The Prophet Royal gives me another office which ought mightily to encourage all Christians to put themselves intirely under my protection which likewise adds very much lustre to my divine love for my faithful and loving Servants The steps of a good man says he are order'd by the Lord and he delights in his way Tho' he should fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him with his hand Consider seriously this amourous expression see what hurt can come to a man that falls upon so sweet and easy and so gracious a cushion as are my sacred hands none at all for I will preserve them so carefully that not even the least harm shall come upon 'em and if any should be so peremptory as to afflict or wrong any that is under my protection I shall take it for an injury done to my self Qui vos tangit tangit pupillam oculi mei Zacha. 2. for He that touches them touches the apple of mine eye Certainly this special care I take to protect the Righteous is a most convincing argument of my great love for them and the command I lay upon my Angels to keep and preserve them in all their ways is altogether as great a proof of my tender kindeness and especially Psal 90. the strict charge I give them to bear men up in their hands lest they should dash their feet against the Stones O Man consider how highly the Righteous are honour'd by me in that I have appointed my Angelical Spirits to bear them up in their Arms What Pope what Emperour what Monarch in the World was ever so well supported Beasts or Mens shoulders at most are enough to carry them but my Angels from Heaven are order'd to bear my Children even in their hands wherever they goe It 's usual with Elder-Brothers if they be not of a moross nature indeed to carry their younger-Brothers in their arms when they are not able to go themselves and this kindness my Angels do faithfully perform to the just as being their Elder Brothers not only in their life time but also in their death as thou mayst read in Scripture Luc. 16. Psal 33. where Lazarus after he died was carri'd by the hands of Angels into Abraham's bosom And my Prophet avers that they surround the Righteous in this life lest any hurt should befal them from any side and I keep a vigilant eye over them my self that no evil may annoy them In fine they shall tread upon the Lion Psa 91.13 14 15 16. and Adder The young Lion and the Dragon shall they trample under their feet because they have fixed their love upon me therefore will I deliver them I will set them on high because they have known my name They shall call upon me and I will answer them I will be with them in all their troubles I will also deliver them and honour them too I will bless them with a long life and shew them my Salvation at the hour of their death When the King of Syria came with a numerous Army to take my Prophet Eliseus Prisoner his Servant felt so great an Agony of trembling and was so terrify'd at the sight of so dreadful a power 4 Reg. 6.17 that my Prophet pray'd heartily I should open his eyes to let him see the far greater number of Angels which were on his side to beat down that vast multitude which came to annoy him whereupon the Servant was animated and seem'd to dare his Adversaries or at least to make slight of them had I open'd thine eyes likewise and set thee the question what dost thou see in Sunamite that is my Church or every Soul that lives in the state of Grace thou wouldst answer I see great Armies of Angels on every side of her O what a puissant Guard is this sure there 's no danger of any disaster falling upon my faithful Servants whilst they are so extraordinary well protected Quid videbis in sunamite nisi choros castrorum Cant. 7. Solomon's Couch was environed with sixty Men of the Strongest and stoutest of all Israel with their drawn Swords in their hands and were all expert in Martial discipline each one well Arm'd at all points for fear of any nocturnal incursions Cant. 3. or insurrections This is only a figure but a perfect representative of the great care which I take to preserve protect the Righteous otherwise how could they being conceiv'd in sin living in a frail corrupt flesh prone to all evil among so many snares and powerfull allurements to evil pass over as many years without the least mortal Sin this is the wonderful effect and chief benefit of my Divine Providence and Protection which is so extraordinary great that it does not only preserve them from evil but changes the very evil which they had carelesly committed into a subject of greater good Diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum Rom. 8.28 because that by this little stumble they got they become more wary more humble and more thankful to me who have withdrawn them from so great a danger and forgiven them an offence against my infinite Majesty This was an occasion of St. Pauls saying Diligentibus deum omnia cooperantur in bonum Rom. 8.28 We know all things work together for good to them that love God If this great favour be worthy of all Mens admiration how much more astonishing will it be that I shew this great Mercy not only to my beloved Servants but also to their Children and to their Children's Children after them as I do solemnly declare in these words I the Lord thy God am a jealous God Exod. 20.5 visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments David is a sufficient President hereof for I did not reject his Children for many Ages and tho' their sins have often deserv'd my abandoning them yet I had patience with them for the love and esteem I bare to David their worthy Father and my faithful Servant When
Prophet will tell thee also how ready and willing I am to be reconcil'd to my Children when they repent He represents me as if I were overjoy'd at the very hearing of their mournful voice I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus thou hast chastised me and I was chastis'd as a Bullock unaccustom'd to the yoak turn thou me and I shall be turn'd for thou art the Lord my God Surely after that I was turn'd I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my Thigh I was asham'd yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth thou has heard the repentance of a sorrowful Sinner his firm resolution to lead a better life for the future Now observe well my joyful expressions to him Yea Ephraim my dear Son He is a pleasant Child indeed for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still Therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him says the Lord. All these propertys exercis'd by me upon my beloved deserve to be seriously consider'd for they are certainly able to inflame the most obstinate hearts with my love and why not being I am so much enamour'd of them tho' they be so refractory to my laws and such great enemies to their own welfare that they do not regard my earnest and charming invitations But to oblige them the more to their duty to me Joan. 14.15 I tell them that I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine But how dost thou know them O Lord with what eyes dost thou behold them As my Father knows me even so know I my Father and with the same eyes that I behold my Father and my Father beholds me I behold my sheep O most blessed Eyes O most happy aspect O wonderful Providence What greater glory what richer treasure or what greater Riches can any Man desire then to be the worthy object of my divine Aspect and to be look'd upon with the same eyes that my Father beholds me Ezech. 34 11 12 13.14 c. What! an adopted Son only to enjoy the priviledge chief prerogative of the only and dearly beloved Son of God O the main advantage O the unspeakable favour Hear how the holy Ghost extolls the superexcellent benefit of this peculiar Providence by the mouth of my Prophet Behold I even I will both search my sheep and seek them out as a Shepherd seeks at night for the sheep which are stray'd or scatter'd from his Flock in the day so will I seek out my Sheep and will deliver them out of the places where they have been scatter'd in the cloudy and dark day And I will bring them out from the People and gather them from the countrys and will bring them to their own Land and feed them upon the Mountains of Israel by the Rivers Ezech. 34. ult and in all the inhabited places of the Country I will feed them in a good pasture and upon the high Mountains of Israel shall their food be there shall they lye in a good Fold and in a Fat Pasture shall they feed upon the Mountains of Israel I will feed my Flock and I will cause them to ly down says the Lord God I will seek that which was lost bring back again that which was driven away and will binde up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick But I will keep the fat and the strong and will feed them with judgment I will make with them a Covenant of peace and will cause the evil Beasts to cease out of the Land and they shall dwell safely in the Wilderness and sleep in the woods And I will make the places round about my hill a blessing and I will cause the shower to come down in his Season and there shall be showers of blessing Tell me O man what greater care could be expected from a watchful Shepherd or what sweeter words could I make choice of to express my unspeakable kindeness for all mankinde for they are the Sheep that I have taken so much labour and care to preserve they are that dear Flock for which I have spilt my blood and lost my life and therefore thou must not understand the words of the Holy Ghost of any material or brutish Flock No no He means thee and the rest of mortals and therefore He concludes Esai 40.11 ye are my Flock the Flock of my Pasture are Men. They are my Sheep and I am their Shepherd neither is it a common Pasture I promise unto them nor the abundance of Earthly wealth but my own Flesh and Blood which contains a vast treasure of spiritual graces and of a peculiar Providence whereby as a gracious and bountiful Lord I do rule and protect my Spiritual Flock All this is consonant to what another Prophet says of my great care and tender love for ungrateful mortals He shall says he feed his Flock like a true Shepherd indeed Esa 40.11 for he shall gather the young and the weary Lambs and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead the sheep that are heavy with young ones and carry them in his arms too if they be not able to go what can be said more charming The words of the Prophet Royal are indeed no less for they seem to proceed from a heart throughly inflam'd with my love The Lord says he is my Shepherd therefore 't is impossible that I should want having so good and so bountiful a Keeper He makes me to ly down in green Pastures He leads me besides the still-waters and which is a far greater benefit then all the rest he has converted my Soul and has restor'd unto her her former beauty which was wholly lost by Sin and now He leads me in the Paths of Righteousness for his holy names sake I might tell thee of several other propertys which are given to me in Scripture as that of King because I govern and defend my People that of Master because I teach and instruct them how they are to decline iniquity and keep always within the ways of Righteousness a Physitian because I cure them of all their distempers as well Spiritual as temporal but the sweetest name of all and that which pleases me most is that of Spouse because it represents my love and Providence to mankinde more amply and of greater importance to them for being their Spouse Gen. 2. I must forsake Father and all to adhere unto them and put on their nature too so that they and I shall be henceforth as two in one flesh O says St. Paul Ephes 5.32 this is a great Mistery But I speak concerning Christ and the Church Jere. 3.4 'T is so great a mistery that thou and all mankinde have reason to love me above all creatures in the World and to cry unto me Thou art our Father indeed our powerful protectour the Guide of our youth and